Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee reiterated his opposition to gay marriage in a speech in front of a conservative crowd in Iowa, saying he cares about the Bible, not history.

The radio and TV personality and Baptist pastor said Tuesday night he wasn’t against gay people individually, according to reports by CNN and The Des Moines Register.

“I’m not against anybody. I’m really not. I’m not a hater. I’m not homophobic,” Huckabee said. “I honestly don’t care what people do personally in their individual lives.”

But Huckabee told the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event audience that he uses the Bible as his guide.

“When people say, ‘Why don’t you just kind of get on the right side of history?’ I said, ‘You’ve got to understand, this for me is not about the right side or the wrong side of history, this is the right side of the Bible, and unless God rewrites it, edits it, sends it down with his signature on it, it’s not my book to change,’” Huckabee said.

Huckabee was the keynote speaker at the Iowa group’s Spring Kickoff event Tuesday night. The former Republican governor and former presidential candidate is thought to be taking steps toward a 2016 presidential run, including appearing in the key primary state. He has recently seen a surge in polling to put him among the top of the pack of current Republican contenders.

Tuesday night, while speaking about gay marriage, he also discussed a recent Supreme Court decision not to take a case involving a New Mexico photography business penalized in state courts for denying service to a lesbian couple, thus allowing the penalty to stand.

“Why is it that Christians stand back and take it in the teeth time and time and time again?” Huckabee said. “But we cannot change this country if we do not rise up and vote with an informed mind and a committed spirit and if we’re not willing to stand along.”